It was another busy weekend of Illinois-conceived and foaled stakes action at Balmoral Park, and shining brightest of all was La Bella Vita Stables, Robert Taylor and Kevin Dixon’s prize trotting filly, My Miss Caroline, who won for the 14th time in 15 career starts, as she easily knocked off six other diagonally-gaited three-year-olds in Sunday night’s $9,000 Elk Grove OTB Stakes.

Driven as if defeat was out of the question by conditioner Robert Taylor, My Miss Caroline zipped right to the top from Post 2. Cruising along effortlessly through splits of :29.3, :59.1 and 1:28.2, the bay filly faced her only challenge midway around the final bend, as a first-over Powerful Connection (driven by Brian Carpenter) came calling.

Easily putting away that challenge as the field turned for home, this season's Violet Stakes winner proceeded to step away from the rest of the field in the lane despite drifting wide through the final sixteenth of a mile. Fox Valley Ruffian (Kyle Husted), who made a break behind the gate and was bothered by a breaking horse in the early stages of the race, managed to overcome all those troubles to finish a fast-closing second. Bonnies Star (Mike Brink) rallied from far back to finish third.

The Balmoral crowd received their first look at this season’s two-year-old trotting colt crop as well on Sunday night, as a field of nine youngsters gathered for the $5,000 Million Dollar Bye Stakes.

Despite getting away to a slow start from Post 2, Douglas Ricollo’s Monticello Lane rallied from seventh at the top of the stretch to win by a length for driver Brian Carpenter and trainer Robert Taylor, who has emerged as one of the top colt trainers in the state over the past few seasons.

Content to bide his time near the back of the pack as Pier Pressure (Kenny Collier) trotted through splits of :30.4, 1:01.4 and 1:33.2, Carpenter moved the gelded son of Northern Kid--Blizzard Lane three deep as the field turned for home.

Gobbling up ground like a seasoned veteran, Monticello Lane and Carpenter proceeded to uncork a 28-second final quarter to make his career debut a winning one. Victor B (Marcus Miller) shook loose late in the late going to rally for the place money, while Pier Pressure held on for third.

A very classy field of 10 state-bred distaffers headlined the Saturday, June 25 program, as they took to the track for the $20,000 Sue Fee Stakes.

With a total of more than $2 million in career earnings between the 10 starters, this test figured to an exciting battle from start to finish and it proved to be just that. Mystical Marker Farms and Peggy Hood’s Mystical Victress shrugged off a grueling first-over trip to win by one and a quarter lengths in a snappy 1:52 for the red-hot Marcus Miller.

(With files from Balmoral)